NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: The resignation of seven out of 10 Rajya Sabha members has plunged the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) into political turmoil just a year after it lost control of Delhi, raising stakes for the upcoming Punjab Legislative Assembly elections, and raising existential questions about the performance of the party and its president Arvind Kejriwal.
Led by Raghav Chadha, one of the founding members of the AAP and once a close associate of Kejriwal, the group of seven legislators includes six from Punjab — Chadha himself, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Rajender Gupta, Vikram Sahni and Harbhajan Singh — and one from Delhi, disgruntled MP Swati Maliwal.
Born out of the anti-corruption movement in 2011, the movement first tasted power as an insurgent force in 2013 in Delhi. It has since suffered several defections – most notably Sand MLA Kailash Gehlot in 2024 – But he has never faced a revolt of this scale, especially when the party is struggling to maintain its national footprint after the defeat in Delhi.
With elections in Punjab, a state where the PJD won a landslide victory four years ago, scheduled for early 2027, the party now faces the possibility of not coming to power in any province – something that has not happened since 2015.
Going into Friday’s exit, the RJD’s already modest national parliamentary presence – 10 Rajya Sabha MPs and three Lok Sabha MPs (all from Punjab) – had declined sharply. Moreover, this will have consequences for the national opposition – the AKP’s presence will diminish – and the legislative agenda of the government as the National Democratic Alliance will move closer to a two-thirds majority in the Senate.
It was a personal setback for Kejriwal, who had attended Chadda’s wedding two years ago before relations soured during the former prime minister’s arrest in 2024, when Chadda was in London for an eye operation. Kejriwal and his family were living at Mittal’s official residence in Delhi until Friday.
The biggest shock, according to party insiders, was to Pathak, who was the national general secretary (organisation) and the mastermind behind the party’s expansion to the national level. His exit also affects the party at a time when it is eyeing a second term in Punjab, an AAP functionary said.
“Sandeep Pathak’s defection means that the BJP has an insider who is well aware of AAP’s strategy, key people and civil society connections,” said Sajan Kumar Singh, a political analyst at the Center for Policy Research and Study of Contemporary India (PRACCIS).
In Delhi, the party’s political identity was based on a strong centralized leadership model anchored by Kejriwal. The departure of a personality like Chadha or Pathak, who played key roles in policy formulation and national outreach, weakens the party’s second line at a time when it is struggling to make a comeback in the national capital.
At the same time, the party maintains a strong grassroots network and a strong governance record in sectors such as education, health and social care. In addition, party leaders noted that none of the deserters were mass leaders.
In Punjab, Chadha and Pathak were widely seen as the architects of the party’s stunning show in 2022 as state in-charge and share-in-charge, respectively. Kejriwal had praised the two young strategists behind the scenes after the party won 92 of the 117 seats in the Assembly, and credited them with formulating the election strategy and building the party organisation. They were rewarded with Rajya Sabha seats, days after Bhagwant Mann took over the reins of the state.
Both are now outside the AAP with nine months to go until the polls. Mann ruled out any challenge to the party on their part, pointing out that the MPs were AAP creations and not leaders in their own right. “The party is bigger than any individual. These 6-7 people who left do not constitute Punjab,” he said.
AAP insiders were surprised by the timing and scale of the mutiny. They felt that the party leadership failed to assess the threat posed by the BJP and took Chadha too lightly.
“Though they are not mass leaders, Chadha and Pathak know the strengths and weaknesses of our party. They can be a few for us in the upcoming elections,” admitted a party leader, requesting anonymity.
Chadha, a former legislator from Delhi, was the most influential party leader in the new AAP government after 2022, and was involved in all major administrative decisions during the first two years. However, his influence gradually diminished and he was virtually sidelined after former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was appointed in charge of Punjab affairs in the party in March 2025.
The rebellion is likely to not only change the political narrative – of welfare schemes offered by the state government such as the welfare programme $10 lakh medical treatment scheme and monthly allowance for women as well as a stringent anti-sacrilege law – raising concerns about the stability of the AAP but also emboldening disaffected elements within the ruling party.
Jagrub Singh Sekhon, former head of the political science department at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, said the defections would hurt the ruling party. “This is a major setback for them,” he said. “Questions will now arise about the political stability and survival of the AKP.”
Party leaders also blamed AAP’s selection of Rajya Sabha members, saying outsiders were given preference over dedicated workers. The leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party admitted that the selection of candidates for the Senate had raised concerns within the party. Another AKP leader, who requested to remain anonymous, complained that many of these representatives do not openly link themselves to the party’s activities. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, most of them remained prominent due to their absence from the campaign.
